SPEC CPU2006 Platform Settings for Intel-based systems

Firmware / BIOS / Microcode Settings

Hardware Prefetch:

This BIOS option allows the enabling/disabling of a processor mechanism to prefetch data into the cache according to a pattern-recognition algorithm In some cases, setting this option to Disabled may improve performance. Users should only disable this option after performing application benchmarking to verify improved performance in their environment.

Adjacent Sector Prefetch:

This BIOS option allows the enabling/disabling of a processor mechanism to fetch the adjacent cache line within a 128-byte sector that contains the data needed due to a cache line miss. In some cases, setting this option to Disabled may improve performance. Users should only disable this option after performing application benchmarking to verify improved performance in their environment.

Hyper-Threading:

This BIOS option allows the enabling/disabling of Intel's Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology. HT Technology allows multithreaded software applications execute two threads in parallel within each processor core.

DIMM Voltage:

Specify the operating voltage of memory. The memory voltage may differ from that specified in this parameter depending on memory configuration. The default is "1.5V".

Power Technology:

This BIOS switch allows 3 options: "Disabled", "Energy Efficent", and "Custom". "Disabled" disables all CPU power efficiency setting. "Energy Efficent" sets the CPU power efficiency automatically, CPU power management configurations can't be set manually. "Custom" allows the enabling/disabling of CPU EIST, Turbo Mode, C1E Support, CPU C3 and C6 Report, this option also allows set Package C State Limit to "C0", "C2", "C6" or "No Limit". The default is "Custom", this option disabled C3 and enabled EIST, Turbo Mode, C1E and C6 support by default, Package C State Limited to "C6" by default.

Turbo Mode:

Intel Turbo Boost Technology allows processor cores to run faster than the rated operating frequency if they are operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits. Disabling this feature will reduce power usage but will reduce the system's maximum achievable performance under some workloads.

C States:

Enabling the CPU States causes the CPU to enter a low-power mode when the CPU is idle.

Package C State Limit:

Specifies the lowest C-state for the processor package. This feature does not limit the processors to enter any of the core C-states. The default is "C6". If set to "C0", no package C-state support.